Believe it or not, not everyone enjoys lazy holidays this summer. The 44-year-old psychologist Knut Ivan Rasmussen has in fact started a project a little out of the ordinary.
He has previously swum 100 kilometers in one, without being on land or in a boat.
But this year he has set himself a slightly more hairy goal: Swimming from Oslo to Bergen. Which is equivalent to 700 kilometers in just over a month.
Tough start
When TV 2 meets him on a hot summer day on the pier in Stavern, he has already left behind the first stage of the day of just over 9.2 kilometers.
– I had a pretty tough, mental start in the inner Oslofjord. Now it’s really starting to move forward. It is good to see on the map that something is starting to happen, he says with a twinkle in his eye.
The trip so far has not only been fun and games. It did not take long before Rasmussen discovered the challenges the sea can offer.
– It has been a little rougher weather than I had hoped for. It takes to swim in waves. So it’s clear; it has been a slightly tougher start than I envisioned.
– GRINSE: Knut Ivan Rasmussen has had severe gnawing wounds in his neck after his many swimming sessions. This is because the wetsuit gnaws against the skin. Photo: Ole Thomas Halvorsen / TV 2
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One thing in particular has bothered him along the way.
– There have been an abundance of stingrays. I have got someone in the face, on my hands and feet – and it was a day I had to get on the boat – completely desperate for anesthetic, says narvikingen.
Get good help along the way
Knut Ivan is far from alone on the trip. With him is a support team, which primarily consists of friends and acquaintances.
My friend Matilde Schjetne will be on the whole trip. Although she thinks it’s nice to see Knut Ivan follow her dreams, she makes no secret of the fact that she’s nervous along the way.
– I’m sitting like a wreck in the boat. We talk all the time about that he must be careful, and that he must take precautions, says Schjetne.
She is convinced that he has what it takes to achieve the goal. According to her, this is not the form of swimming.
– There are of course a number of other things that can get in the way of injuries and so on. But I think he will come to Bergen, and then I think he will get blood on his teeth, she says.
– SUPPORTER: Matilde Schjetne follows Knut Ivan Rasmussen throughout the trip. She helps him with most of the practical things along the way. Photo: Ole Thomas Halvorsen / TV 2
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– Not relevant not to try
What started as an idea almost ten years ago, has become an investment project for Knut Ivan Rasmussen. In the coming weeks, several long swimming stages await.
He focuses on swimming an average of around 20 kilometers a day.
– I have decided that it must go forward at least. It’s all about finding solutions. It becomes a “it must go” type of attitude. It is inappropriate not to try.
If everything goes according to plan, Rasmussen will swim ashore in Bergen at the beginning of August. Then he has completed what is the longest swim in Norway through the ages.
– You’re not bored yet, are you?
– No I am not. I am really looking forward to the next four to five weeks. It will be good, he laughs.
He hopes the project can help inspire others to achieve their goals.
– People must try to stop listening too much to what others say. Follow yourself and do what you feel is right for you, and have fun on the journey, he says.
